My Paper Heart
by MissJess13
Summary: He would always love her. Now she would never know. Klaroline Oneshot. AU/AH


**My first Klaroline fic, hope you enjoy. Feedback is greatly appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: not mine**

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Klaus still remembers the day they met. He was in college, majoring in art-history. Trying to move on with his life, his heart jaded from his past. She was majoring in fashion, with pretty eyes, long blonde hair, and filled with so much hope.

He'd never met some so full of life, so optimistic about the future. He was drawn to her like a moth to flame. For the first time he dares to hope.

They started dating. Casually at first, then seriously. She tells him she loves him. He doesn't reply. He whispers it to her later that night when she's asleep.

She takes him to meet her family- her sheriff mother, her older brother Damon, her twin brother Stefan. She takes him to the cemetery to meet her father. A lone tear makes it way down her face while she introduces him to her father. He puts and arm around her and pretends not to notice.

College finishes too soon. They move out, go back home. Him to Las Angeles, her to her home town of Mystic Falls. He can no longer simply walk across the courtyard to see her, have breakfast with her on Sunday morning. They're now separated by miles and miles. He misses her.

She flies in to see him one day. His father had just been to see him. Taunting him, belittling him "You'll never amount to anything boy. No one will ever love you."  
He takes his anger out on her. Tells her he'd never loved her, that he'd simply used her. That she's stupid, useless, worthless. Tells he wanted her to go, never wants to see her again.

She leaves the next day, a sad look in her eyes before she turns around and boards the plane. He watches her go, wishing he could tell her he was sorry. That he didn't mean it. That he could beg her to stay.

He thinks her about her every day. Stares at her number in his phone, trying to build up the courage to call her. He never does. Months go by. Mikael dies- he thinks of Caroline introducing him to her father the whole funeral. He distances himself from his family, from everyone.

He sees her in the paper one day. Some fashion article. He quickly closes it, the memories unbearable. He slowly starts picking his life up after this.

First he starts showering daily, shaving. He cleans the apartment. For the first time in months he can see the floor of his apartment.

He starts going out again. Calls Bekah back. She yells at him for what seems like an hour before she starts crying. "I missed you," she tells him in between sobs.

He meets a girl. Her name is Camille, and she had long blonde hair and eyes just like hers. He dates her for a few weeks, before dumping her. She wasn't her- she wasn't Caroline, and no one else could ever take the spot in his heart. She'd occupied it ever since he lay eyes on her- if only he had been strong enough to keep her.

He sees her again, on the TV this time. She's talking to some talk show host about her clothes label. The host asks her if she's seeing anyone. He shuts the TV off when she says yes, a happy smile on her face.

He doesn't turn the TV on again.

He gets a job teaching art. He wonders if she'd be proud of her. Hopes she would. Starts talking to the rest of his family. Even visits Mikael's grave- resisting the urge to dance on it the whole time he's there.

He's picking up some groceries one day when he quite literally runs into her. He kneels down to pick up the fallen groceries when a soft gasp echoes through the air. He looks up in shock- it was her. She's looks exactly the same. She's wearing a blue dress and she looks beautiful.

He stands up slowly, groceries lay forgotten at their feet. "Caroline," he whispers. They're joined by a man with dark hair and even darker eyes. "Who's this babe?" the new comer inquires. Klaus' heart shatters into tiny pieces, noticing the large diamond on her finger.  
"Just an old friend," she replies sweetly, "I'll just be a minute." The man nods suspiciously before replying, "I'll go pay." He picks up Caroline's dropped basket before walking off.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, still shocked by her presence. The last he'd heard she was living in New York. "I have a fashion show here tomorrow," she replied softly. He nods, not knowing what else to say. They smile at each other awkwardly before she turns to leave. He hands shoots out, grabbing her arm to stop her from leaving. She pulls her arm away, looking at him bitterly. "What?" she asks harshly. "I can't do this again Klaus, not after last time." "I'm sorry," he says softly. She stares at him in shock for a moment, before a sad smile graces her lips. She nods slightly, before going to leave. She pauses and turns back. "I hope you find everything you're looking for," she tells him sincerely, before walking away to her fiancée.

He stays rooted to the spot for a long time, before kneeling down and picking his groceries up. He comes back frequently after that, hoping to see her again. He never does.

He sees her wedding on TV. He started watching it again after that fateful meeting in the grocery store. She looks beautiful dressed in white, as she walks down the aisle to another man. He realises at this moment he has truly lost her. Though seeing the way she beams as she as she becomes someone else's, he can't bring himself to feel angry.

He truly moves on after that, starts dating. Meets a girl with brown hair, green eyes. She's the complete opposite of Caroline, something he both loves and hates. She tapes together his broken heart.

He grows to love her, at least as much as his taped heart will allow. But never as much as he loves the only one that could ever mend it.


End file.
